


The Things We Remember All Through Our Lives

by TheSourFruit



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Christmas, M/M, Rated M for a scene with kinda implied sexy times, just in case
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 15:09:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5460878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSourFruit/pseuds/TheSourFruit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys tries to give Jack the Christmas he never had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Things We Remember All Through Our Lives

Rhys carefully grabbed another small, store-bought cupcake from the table and placed it on his paper plate next to the row of cookies he’d lined up. He absentmindedly picked at the dried frosting that coated the edge of the plate while he waited for the lady ahead of him in the snowman sweatshirt to move along and stop blocking the table that housed the soda bottles and plastic cups.

“Hey! Well, don’t _you_ stick out like a sore thumb?” a loud voice cheerfully called from beside him.

“E-excuse me?” Rhys used his free fingers to pull his shirt sleeve down over the exposed hand of his prosthetic arm. He faked a friendly, confused smile.

“Your sweater!” The man gestured dramatically toward Rhys’ clothing. “What, no reindeer? No snowman? No big Santa face?”

 _“Oh!”_ Rhys looked down at the plain, navy green sweatshirt he’d picked out for the evening and chuckled. “No, I didn’t realize this was, like, an ugly sweater party.” He eyed the man’s sweatshirt, which was lined in brightly colored fabric light bulbs.

“Well, it’s not. Not exactly. But they’re so fun! Right?” The man grinned impossibly widely.

“Yeah _, super_ fun,” Rhys lied.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, you still look fine. Just, you know… _different_.”

Rhys sucked his lips into his mouth and took a deep breath, breaking eye contact to look down at his plate and break a piece off of a cookie. “Thanks.”

The man offered Rhys one more jovial smile before running off to talk to a woman wearing a big Christmas tree sweater.

Rhys leaned against the wall and watched as the woman excitedly fumbled with the hem of her sweater, causing the decorated tree to come to life in several flashing colors. _That’s probably what he ran over to talk to her about_ , Rhys thought. He shook his head as he brought a cookie up to his mouth. His peripheral vision was suddenly filled with red as he was joined at the snack table.

“Hey, kiddo! Having fun?” Jack smiled at Rhys’ side and reached out to pluck the cupcake off his plate.

“Oh, yeah. Lots of fun.” Rhys watched as Jack licked all the frosting off the cupcake before setting it back down. “We should’ve made a rule to only bring in home-baked treats. Maybe have them bring in a recipe to prove it. And we could’ve gotten a better playlist, this is the third time I’ve heard this song. Oh, and for next year, can we just altogether ban tacky sw-“

“Aww!” Jack rolled his head around until the puffy white ball from the end of his hat hung in front of his face. He had, of course, not passed up the chance to dress in a full Santa Claus suit. “Is Rhysie not having fun at the Christmas party?” He pouted at Rhys mockingly.

Rhys rolled his eyes. He licked his thumb and wiped away some stray frosting that was stuck to the edge of Jack’s mouth. “Remind me again why we couldn’t serve alcohol?”

“You remember what happened last year.”

“Fair point.”

Jack sighed and slung an arm around Rhys’ waist. “About ready to leave?”

Rhys rested his head on Jack’s shoulder. “I’ve been ready to leave since we got here.”

\--

Rhys had hardly passed through the door leading from the garage into the kitchen before Jack was grabbing him by the hips and pinning him to the counter. He tried desperately to keep up with the quick, sloppy pace in which Jack’s lips were moving against his. Big hands slid around to rest on his backside, and he slid his own hands up his partner’s back, stopping when he felt the material of the red jacket under his hand.

“I’m sorry, but I can _not_ take you seriously while you’re wearing this.”

Jack chuckled and squeezed Rhys’ ass in his hands. He pulled Rhys closer, leaning forward to whisper in his ear. “C’mere, baby, let me show you what Santa brings to the _naughty_ little boys.”

Rhys snorted and shook his head. “Coal, Jack.”

“Mm?”

“Santa brings the bad kids coal. That’s actually _very_ well-known.”

“Maybe he brings coal to the kids at the _bottom_ of the Naughty List. But to the _really_ bad kids, Santa brings _discipline_.” He emphasized the last word by bringing his hand down across Rhys’ backside rather harshly.

Rhys groaned. “I am _not_ roleplaying sexy Santa, Jack. I won’t do it.”

“You are just _no_ fun today, Rhysie.”

Rhys rolled his eyes and slid his hand up Jack’s chest. He flung a leg around Jack’s waist and looked him in the eyes. “Oh, Santa, I’ve been _so_ bad this year!” he cried out dramatically. “How will I _ever_ make the Nice List before Christmas Eve?”

Jack buried his face in Rhys’ chest to muffle his sudden fit of laughter. His shoulders bounced up and down as he howled.

“Okay, maybe it _is_ a little weird…”

“A _little_?”

“Yeah. Tone it down a bit, and it could be kinda sexy, you know?” Jack swayed back and forth with Rhys in his arms. “Maybe if I wasn’t dating a prude, I could have fun, holiday sex.”

“I’m not a _prude._ ” Rhys pushed Jack off of him and crossed his arms. “I just don’t want you taking fun things from my childhood and turning them into another one of your pervy little games.”

Jack stuck out his bottom lip and whined. He reached forward to snake a hand under Rhys’ sweater and rub at the warm skin of his torso. “Come _on_ , Rhys! Just a _little_ sexy Santa fun?”

“No!” Rhys snatched the hat off of Jack’s head and tossed it onto the kitchen table. “You’re tarnishing all of my happy childhood Christmas memories.”

“Oh, I am so _sorry,_ Rhys!” Jack mocked. “I did _not_ mean to ‘tarnish’ your childhood.” He shook his head and chuckled.

“It’s just kind of weird.” Rhys unzipped the fluffy red jacket and slid it off of Jack’s shoulders. “I mean, you remember how you thought of Santa as a kid, right?”

Jack bit his lip thoughtfully and shook his head.

“What?” Rhys tilted his head questioningly. “You didn’t believe in Santa?”

“Not really.” Jack laid the jacket across the back of a chair. “You wake up as a kid on Christmas to find your cousin’s hand-me-down coat and some generic  action figure that _sort of_ looks like Superman wrapped in yellowing newspaper, then go to school and hear all your friends talking about their new toys and wearing their new outfits, and you… Well, you aren’t left with much to believe in.” Jack’s face was suddenly rather solemn.

Rhys’ jaw dropped. “Oh. Um… Hey!” He reached forward to poke Jack in the chest playfully, changing the subject and lightening the mood. “Wasn’t Santa Claus also a saint? You’re going to _hell_ , Jack.”

Jack smiled and clapped his hands to his cheeks in mock surprise. “Hell _and_ the Naughty List?”

Rhys nodded.

“Oh, how will I ever redeem myself?” Jack undid the zipper at the front of his pants before sitting in the chair to slide them past his legs. He reached down to untie the laces of his high, shiny black boots.

“Wait!”

Jack paused and looked up at Rhys questioningly.

“…Maybe keep the boots.”

\--

Rhys rolled over in bed and picked up his phone from where it was charging on his nightstand. _5:30 am_. That’s morning, right? Or at least, close enough? He rolled back over and shook Jack by the shoulder.

“ _Jack!_ ”

Jack groaned and pulled the comforter back over his body. He turned away from Rhys.

Rhys drummed on Jack’s back.

“Jack, wake up! It’s Christmas!”

Jack sighed tiredly and lit up his phone that was lying on the bed beside him. “Yep. Merry Christmas.”

“Come on, get up!”

Jack pulled the comforter over his head. “Five more minutes.”

“ _Nooo!”_   Rhys shook Jack from under the covers. “Now!”

Jack reached an arm out to grasp at Rhys’ head and drag his fingers across his face. “Where’s your snooze button?”

Rhys grabbed Jack’s arm and yanked him up until he was in a sitting position. Jack whined and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“We can always go back to bed later.”

Jack sighed heavily and shook his head, finally accepting defeat. “Fine.” He pulled the blankets off his body and turned on the lamp beside the bed. Slowly, he stood and leaned on Rhys as they made their way out of the bedroom and down the steps.

When they reached the living room, Rhys ran excitedly to the tree and flipped the switch on the power strip where everything was plugged. Multi-colored lights shone from the tree and danced across the metallic paper that covered the gifts that lied on the floor.

Rhys gasped dramatically and pointed to the fireplace. “Look!” Two big footprints  were distinguishable in the ash of the hearth.

Jack sighed. “Rhys, you didn’t use my shoes for that, did you?”

“No! That wasn’t me,” Rhys lied. He stood and picked up the tray of cookies he had _insisted_ they leave out last night. He held them out to Jack excitedly. “He came!”

Jack looked down at the tray, unamused. “Yeah. And he only took one bite from each cookie.” He picked up a half-eaten sugar cookie and shoved it in his mouth. “That’s an insult to my baking.”

Rhys set the tray back down on the coffee table indignantly. “ _No_ , he just… has a lot of houses to visit, he doesn’t have time to finish the cookies.”

“Whatever you say.” Jack rolled his eyes.

Rhys turned and picked a large red stocking from the mantle. “Look, it’s got your name on it!” He placed it in Jack’s lap.

Jack sighed and picked up the stocking. “Okay. Let’s see what _Santa_ left me…”

Rhys sat down beside Jack on the couch and bounced excitedly.

Jack pulled out a small box and opened the top. He shot Rhys a confused look and pulled out its contents. “A slinky? Really?”

“Hey, that’s fun!”

“Yeah… I guess.” Jack held each end and shifted the toy so it sprung back and forth in his hands.

“There’s more!” Rhys tapped Jack’s arm impatiently.

“Alright, let’s see here…” Jack reached in and pulled out another box. “I got a… can of Play-Doh… some bubbles… a game of _jacks_ , very clever…” He set his small toys on the couch beside him as he pulled them out. “An _assload_ of tiny candy canes…” Those he dumped into Rhys’ lap. “Ooh!” Jack reached in to pull out the last gift from the stocking and pull it out of its box. It was a large wooden slide whistle. He brought it to his mouth and pulled the end it out slowly.

“Oh, _fun_!” Rhys pushed the candy out of his lap.

Jack nodded.

“Hey, I think I saw –“

Jack interrupted him by blowing loudly into his whistle.

“Okay. You had some –“

Jack blew the whistle directly into Rhys’ ear. Rhys snatched it from him and held it out of his reach. “Your name was on some presents under the tree!”

Jack squinted at the floor, then looked back at Rhys. “Bring them to me.”

“ _No_ , come on!” Rhys grabbed Jack’s wrists and pulled him off of the couch. He sat on the floor by the tree and tugged on Jack’s arm until he knelt down as well.

“Okay, where am I?” Jack crawled closer to the tree and pulled out a large box. “To: Jack. From: Santa.”

Rhys gasped and hugged his own legs. “Open it!”

Jack turned the box over in his hands and picked at the tape on the wrapping paper. He peeled it off and began pulling at the next piece of tape.

“No, not like that!” Rhys leaned forward and stuck his finger in the paper. He pulled back, ripping it off the box. “Tear into it!”

Jack made a disgusted face, but continued to rip the paper off where Rhys had started. “ _Awful_ noise…” He set the crumpled paper aside and pulled the lid off of the box. He dug through the tissue paper inside and pulled out a large stuffed lion.

“Hey, your favorite!”

“Yeah…” Jack studied the toy’s face. “They usually look a lot more _fierce_ than this, though…”

“I think he’s cute.”

Jack shrugged and looked at the tag on the lion’s ear. “Oh, _of course_ his name is Leo…”

Rhys crawled under the tree and tossed Jack another present. Jack set Leo down on the floor and picked up the package from where it had landed by his feet. He held it up to show Rhys that, yes, he was _tearing into it_ like he’d said. He pulled out a pack of thick wool socks. “Oh!” He dug into the plastic with his fingernail until he poked a hole in it.

“What’re you doing?”

“Opening my new socks.”

“Yeah, but…” Rhys looked at all of Jack’s presents under the tree. “You’ve got more! Can’t it wait?”

“Um, _no._ ” Jack pulled a pair of socks out of the plastic. “My feet are cold _now._ ”

Rhys sighed. “Fine.”

Jack pulled a sock onto each foot. He wiggled his toes contentedly and smiled up at Rhys, who was pushing a larger box over to where Jack sat. Jack stuck both hands under the paper where it was folded and pulled it off in two large strips. He swiped at the rest until it was all off and tilted the box up so he could get a better look at it.

“Wow, look at that!” Rhys studied Jack’s face, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Hm.” Jack propped the box up onto his socked foot to put it at an angle where he could read it. “’Remote control monster truck,’ huh?”

“That looks like fun!”

“Yeah, maybe.” Jack shrugged, but couldn’t hide the smile growing on his face.

“Santa must’ve made a mistake and put you on the Nice List this year.” Rhys poked Jack’s side before crawling back under the tree.

\--

“Ow! God _damn_ it!”

Rhys woke up to Jack’s cry of pain and sat up on the couch slowly. He looked over to where Jack was still sitting on the floor. His slinky was wrapped around his body, full of kinks and tangles that would probably never come out.  His lips and chin shone in the light from the tree, spitty and sticky from the candy cane that still hung from his mouth. He held a screwdriver in his hand as he worked to open the battery pack on his new toy truck, where he had apparently pinched his finger.

Rhys groaned and ran his fingers through his hair, pausing a moment to scratch at his scalp. “Hey, Jack?”

“Mm?” Jack looked up at him.

“Remember earlier this morning when I said we could go back to bed?”

“Oh!” Jack pulled the candy cane from his mouth and glanced over at the batteries sitting by his feet before looking back up to Rhys. “Um. Yeah, you go on ahead. I’ll meet you back up there in a few.”

Rhys stretched and lifted himself from the couch. He turned and headed for the steps.

“Hey!”

Rhys paused and turned in time to see Jack running up to him. He hugged Rhys tightly and kissed his cheek, leaving behind a gross sticky mint residue.

“Thank you.”


End file.
